1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accelerator apparatus for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
For instance, JP2004-108214A teaches an accelerator apparatus, which controls an acceleration state of a vehicle based on the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal, which is depressed by a foot of a driver of the vehicle. In this accelerator apparatus, the accelerator pedal is rotatably supported by a support member, which is installed to the vehicle, and the accelerator pedal is urged by an urging member in a direction opposite from a depressing direction of the accelerator pedal. When a contacting portion of the accelerator pedal contacts a limiting portion (pedal stopper) of the support member upon releasing of the accelerator pedal, the rotation of the accelerator pedal in the direction opposite from the depressing direction is limited. Therefore, when the driver does not depress the accelerator pedal, a rotational position of the accelerator pedal is held in a full close position (a rotational position of the accelerator pedal, at which a throttle valve is fully closed), i.e., a position, in which an acceleration command is not outputted from the accelerator apparatus.
In addition, the accelerator apparatus described in JP2004-108214A has a cover portion, which can cover a gap between the contacting portion and the limiting portion of the support member, so that it is possible to limit intrusion of foreign objects (e.g., sand, pebble) into the gap.
In the accelerator apparatus described in JP2004-108214A, when the rotational position of the accelerator pedal is at or adjacent to the full close position, the gap can be covered with the cover portion. However, when the accelerator pedal is rotated in the depressing direction from the full close position by a predetermined amount, the gap cannot be covered with the cover portion. With the above described structure, when the accelerator pedal is depressed by the foot of the driver through his/her shoe, foreign objects (e.g., sand, pebble), which adhere to, i.e., are attached to the shoe of the driver, will possibly be introduced into the gap. When the foreign objects are intruded into the gap and are caught between the limiting portion and the contacting portion, the accelerator pedal is jammed and cannot be returned to the full close position after releasing of the accelerator pedal. Therefore, in such a case, the accelerator pedal is placed in a jammed state, in which the accelerator pedal is kept in the depressed position in the absence of the application of the depressing force from the foot of the driver onto the accelerator pedal. As a result, the vehicle is held in the accelerated state or in the state where the deceleration of the vehicle is impossible. Thus, the driver will possibly feel anxiety and/or unsafe.